Barbara Miller, assistant professor in the School of Communications, had an article accepted for publication in the Journal of Applied Communication Research. The article is titled “Digging Deeper: Crisis Communication in the Coal Industry.”
It was co-authored with J. Suzanne Horsley from the University of Utah.
The article investigates crisis management/communication practices within a risk-related industry and provides insight into the unique considerations associated with a crisis response within high-risk organizations. The study finds that the lack of a professional communicator on staff, as well as the lack of implementation of crisis communication into overall policy planning strategies, prevents coal companies from being able to preempt or respond adequately to a crisis situation. Since this research was conducted prior to the events of January and February 2006, this study also sheds light on coal industry crisis management practices that may have contributed to the inaccuracies and miscommunication of a zealous press during the Sago mining tragedy.